Transmission



Aug. 24, 1948- g N ER 2,447,552

'rmsurssxou Filed March 6, 1944 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 .mmvron. Oscar lffian/aer;

1948 o. H. BANKER 2,447,552

' TRANSMISSION Filed Harsh 6, 1944 I 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 H, 7 J6 Z8 53 68 J 47 "l i1 [7L j INVENTOR.

OacarH. Banker:

, BY WMWW *flafu Patented Aug. 24, 1948 g i UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE TRANSMISSION Oscar H. Banker, Evanston, 11L, assignor to New Products Corporation, Chicago, 111., a corporation of Delaware Application March a, 1944, Serial No. 525,145

. 8 Claims. (Cl. 74-368) s 1- 2 This invention has to'do with transmissions for tion clutch A and the hydraulic torque converter heavy duty automotive vehicles, such as military B being shown merely for the purpose of comtractors, tanks, bulldozers, and the like, and is pleting the assembly. particularly concerned with the provision of an The auxiliary transmission C is capable of auxiliary mechanism for emergency use upon 5 modifying the usual action of the torque concasion in quickly increasing the multiplication verter B to the extent of providing three speeds of torque obtainable with an associated variin forward and one in reverse. The assembly is able speed device without the usual loss of torque normally operated with the auxili y transmiswhich occurs with conventional gearing during on 0 in its high g r" a with t torque de-clutching when manually shifting from one co ter efior t e m lt p o q e gear ratio into alower gear ratio. necessary to start the vehicle rolling and keep it The invention resides in the provision of a new rolling on all but un a ly ste p des- When and useful mechanism for this purpose, which the vehicle is confronted with an obstruction or mechanism is simple and compact in construcwith a grade which will over-tax the capac y of tlon, will stand up under the most severe opert e torque converter B in its highest multip ating conditions, is easy to manipulate, and will cation r ti the p rator may shift the auxilfunction instantaneously to establish a lower gear ieiy ission instantaneously into a low ratio without interruption in the delivery of gear" ratio without having to fi st throw out the power to the driven shaft. engine clutch and without any substantial in- While the foregoing statements are indicative 2 terruption in the delivery of power to the driven in a general way of the nature of the invention, h f other more specific obiects and advantages will be This l w S l p i effected o h the apparent to those skilled in the art upon a full employment f an vrrllnnln clutch in combiunderstanding of the construction, arrangement, nation with 10w ratio gears which y c i o operation and control of the improved auxiliary action upon e disconnection of higher tio mechanism, gears. There are times when it is desirable in a A prefgrred embodiment f t invention is transmission of this character to shift into a low presented herein by way of exemplification but it gee! ratio in Order to Obtain breklng fi t, a

will, of course, be appreciated that the invention h going wn Steep ra es This can b Reis susceptible of incorporation in other struccomphshed in e Present trehsmisfiion y e turally modified forms coming equally within out the Overrunning clutch.

scope of the appended claims The assembly of which the auxiliary transmis- Inthe accompanying drawings; sion 0 forms a part is particularly well suited Fig, 1 is a composite longitudinal section for exceptionally heavy duty th Veh cles through the center of a variable speed transmishaving either Single or multiple ine power ign assembly equipped t an auxihary mechand either wheel or endless track ground-engaganism constructed in accordance with the in- 3 Ee vention-the section through the main trans- The frictien clutch A is heated immediately mission d through th auxiliary mechanism t behind the engine between the rear end of the the rear end of the main transmission being taken crank shaft of the engine and the input shaft on vertical plane, and t section at t upper ii of the torque converter B. It includes a face right hand end of the view through the reverse Plate which is formed as a part of the y el gearing for the auxiliary mechanism being taken f the engine, an axially o ab Pr ssure P e on a different plane; it! carried by the face plate, a driven disk M be- Fig. 2 is a side view of the manually operable tween the face Plate n the pr ss Pla control means for the auxiliary mechanism; and which disk is secured o the i p t shaft ll of Fig. 3 is a front end view of the same control the torque cehverter, and a oot pedal I5 01 other means. device for use in releasing the clutch.

The assembly shown in Fig. 1 of the drawings The torq e converter B is located at the rear includes a friction clutch A, a hydraulic torque 0 end of the friction clutch A and includesin adconverter B, and an auxiliary transmission 0. dition to the input shaft II-an output shaft it, The present invention resides in the novel conand cooperating fluid handling vanes I1 and it struction, arrangement, operation and control of associated respectively with said shafts for transthe several cooperating elements which combine mitting torque between the same under a multo form the auxiliary transmission C-the trio. s5 tiplication, which multiplication is initially high outer member 33.

but progressively decreases as the inertia of the load is overcome and the speed of the output shaft I increases.

The auxiliary transmission C is located at the rear end of the torque converter B. It includes a driving shaft IS, in the form of a rearward continuation of the output shaft I6 of the converter B, and a driven shaft 20 which is offset with respect to the driving shaft Is in downwardly spaced parallel relation to the latter. The driven shaft 20 terminates at its rear end in a bevel gear 2I which is op eflbly connected with the mechanism used in driving the wheels or other ground-engaging means of the vehicle. The driving shaft I9 carries a large gear 22 and a small gear 23. These. gears are both fixedly secured to the shaft I9 andturn at all times with the latter.

The gear 22 on the driving shaft I9 meshes downwardly with a small gear 24 which is journaled on the driven shaft 20. Under normal operating conditions th gear 34 is non-rotatably connected with the driven shaft 20 by a clutch member 25 which is splined to the driven shaft and is shiftable forwardly along the same into a position in which a set of jaw teeth 26 on the front face of the clutch member are in circumferentially interlocked engagement with a coinplementary set of jaw teeth 21 on the rear face of the otherwise freely rotatable gear 24.

The clutch member 25 is resiliently urged at all times into clutched engagement with the gear 24 by the torsional action of a spring 28 (see Fig. 3), but can be withdrawn quickly'from such engagement by the operator through the manipulation of a foot pedal 29 (see Fig. 2) or other device. When the clutch member 25 is in itsforwardly clutched position the gear 24 will be fixedly connected with the driven shaft 20 through the clutch member and the auxiliary transmission will be in its normal or high gear" ratio.

The gear 23 on the driving shaft I9 meshes downwardly with a gear 30 on the driven shaft 20. The gear 30, which is considerably larger than the gear 24, is not connected directly with the driven shaft 2U but is secured to the inner member 3I of an overrunning clutch unit 32 on the driven shaft. The unit 32 may be constructed in the manner disclosed and claimed in my abandoned application Serial No. 297,439 filed December 26, 1941. The inner member 3| of the unit is journaled on the driven shaft 20 and is surrounded by the outer member 33 of the unit. A plurality of circumferentially spaced rollers 34--possibly twenty in number-are positioned between the outer multiple-cam periphery of the inner member 31 and the inner cylindrical periphery of the The rollers 34 are separated from each other at regularly spaced intervals by an annular carrier 35. The carrier 35 is acted upon by a spring 36 which tends to cause the rollers 34 to move along the cam surfaces presented by the outer periphery of the inner member 3| into wedged engagement with the inner periphery of the outer member 33, whereby to allow free rotation of the inner member 3I with the gear 30 in one direction relative to the outer member 33 while preventing rotation of the inner member 3| and'the gear 30 in the opposite direction relative to the outer member 33.

The outer member 33 of the overrunning clutch unit 32 is adapted to be clutched to the driven shaft 20 by a clutch member 31. The clutch member 31 is splined to the driven shaft 20 and is shiftable forwardly along the sameinto a po- 4 sition in which a set of Jaw teeth 38 on the front face of the clutch member are in circumferentially interlocked engagement with a complementary set of law teeth 39 on the rear edge of the otherwise freely rotatable outer member 33.

The previously described clutch member 25, in addition to being shlftable forwardly along the driven shaft 20 to connect the gear 24 to that shaft-is also shiftable rearwardly from its intermediate or 'neutral position (shown in Fig. 1) into a position in which a second set of jaw teeth 40 on the rear edge of the same are in circumferentially interlocked engagement with a complementary set of jaw teeth 4| on the front face of the gear 30. This shift-which is eflected during a momentary release of the engine clutch A and an easing up on the throttle to reduce the speed of the gear 30 to approximately that of the driven shaft 2Il-locks out the overrunning clutch unit 32 and connects the gear 30 non-rotatably with the driven shift, providing a fixed low gear ratio which can be used if desired for braking purposes.

The reversing means includes a small gear 42 which is splined on the driving shaft I9 near the rear end of the latter. When the auxiliary transmission C is to be placed in reverse, the. clutch A I is released momentarily, the clutch members and 31 are shifted into their neutral positions (as shown in Fig. 1) if not already in such positions, and the gear 4'2 is shifted forwardly from its neutral position (as shown in Fig. 1) into mesh with a gear 43 which is rotatably mounted on a short counter-shaft 44 located to one side of the driving shaft I3. The gear 43 is connected with a rearwardly disposed gear 45 which meshes with a large gear 45 formed on the outer periphery of the clutch member 31. Consequently, when the gear 42 is shifted forwardly into mesh with the gear 43 a reverse drive will be established between the driving and driven shafts I9 and 20 through the gears 42, 43, 45 and 46.

The gear 42 is a dual purpose gear. When shifted forwardly from its neutral position it functions in the above described manner as a reversinggear. When shifted rearwardly from its neutral position it functions in a different manner as a very low ratio creeper gear.

The establishment of this very low ratio enables the operator to cause the vehicle to creep forwardly at a very slow rate of speed under a high multiplication of torque whenever emergency conditions make such progress advisable. To place the transmission in this emergency low gear Or creeper ratioa ratio considerably lower than the previously described low gear ratio obtainable through the gears 23 and 3Ilthe gear 42 is shifted rearwardly from its neutral position into direct mesh with the gear 46 on the clutch member 31, the clutch member 31 at that time of course being in its neutral position. Before shifting into the creeper ratio the operator should bring the vehicle to a full stop (if it is not already at rest) and momentarily release the clutch A.

The control means for the auxiliary transmission C includes three shifting forks 41, 48 and 49 (see Fig. 2), which forks engage respectively within annular grooves 50, 5| and 52 provided on hub portions associated respectively with the clutch member 25, the clutch member 31, and the dual purpose gear 42.

The fork 41 which operates the clutch member 25 is fixedly secured to a rotatably mounted crossrod 53 (see Fig. 3). The previously mentioned spring 28 encircles this cross-rod and is connected at one of its ends to the casing 54 of the transmission and at its other end to the fork 41, with the spring wound under tension in such direction as to urge the fork 41 to pivot forwardly at all times. The previously mentioned foot pedal 29 is connected by a link 55 to an upstanding arm 56 which is fixedly secured to the projecting end of the cross-rod 53. Another upstanding arm 51 is pivotally mounted at its lower end on the cross-rod 53 and is provided with a hub portion 58 having a stop 59 for engagement with a small radially projecting lug 60 on the cross-rod 53. The arm 57 is adapted to be contracted at its upper end by the lower end iii of a bell crank lever 62. The bell crank lever 62 is rotatably mounted intermediate its ends on a stud 63 and is pivotally connected at its upper end 84 to an axially movable shifting rod 55.

The fork 48 which operates the clutch member 31 is fixedly secured to the shifting rod 55 at a point rearwardly of the bell crank lever 52.

- The fork 49 which operates the gear 42 is fixedly secured to another axially movable shifting rod 65 which is located in horizontally spaced parallel relation to the rod 65. 'lhe rods 65 and 56 are connected with an ordinary gear shift lever (not'shown) in the usual manner, whereby either of the rods can be shifted at will but each is prevented from being shifted from its neutral position into any other position until after the other rod has first been shifted into its neutral posi- .tion, this being accomplished by cross-locking means well known in the art.

When the rod 65 is shifted forwardly from its neutral position (shown in Fig. 2) into its forward position, the fork 48 will cause the clutch member 31 to connect the outer member 33 of'the overrunning clutch unit 32 with the driven shaft 20, and the lower end SI of the bell crank lever 62 will at the same time be moved rearwardly out of the way of the upper end of the arm 51, allowing the spring 28 to cause the clutch member 25 to connect the gear 24 with the driven shaft 20. In this normal or high speed condition of the auxiliary transmission the torque from the engine after leaving the torque converter B will be transmitted from the driving shaft l9 to the driven shaft 20 by way of the high ratio gears 22 and 24. At the same time the gear 23 on the driving shaft I9 will be rotating gear 30 but at a lower speed, resulting in the outer member 33 of the overrunning clutch unit 32 turning at a higher speed than the inner member 3! connected with the gear 30.

When an obstruction or an unusually steep grade is reached the operator may drop the transmission quickly into low gear by pressing the pedal 29 down far enough to unciutch the gear 24 from the driven shaft 20 and instantly following up such action by stepping on the accelerator of the engine to increase the speed of rotation of the driving shaft l9. As soon as the gear 23 is released in this manner. from its connection with the driven shaft 20 and the engine accelerated, the multiple roller clutch of the overrunning clutch unit 32 will take up the drive through the low ratio gears 23 and 30.

If the operator for any reason wishes to lock out the overrunning clutch unit 32 while operating through such unit in the above described low gear ratio, whereby to fix that ratio and thus enable the transmission to be used in braking, as when going down a steep incline, he may do so very easily by merely depressing the pedal 29 still farther, whereupon the clutch member 25 will move into clutched engagement with the gear 30, looking that gear to the driven shaft 20. If during this locking out period the clutch teeth 40 tend to abut against the clutch teeth 4| a momentary easing or joggling of the accelerator will cause sufficient relative movement between the two sets of teeth to enable them to mesh fully with each other.

When the transmission is to be placed in reverse, the rod 65 is shifted rearwardly to place the clutch members 25 and 31 in their neutral positions, after which the rod 66 is shifted forwardly from its neutral position to move the gear 42 into mesh with the gear 43.

When the transmission is to be placed in its emergency low gear or creeper ratio, the vehicle is brought to a stop, the clutch A released, and the rod 65 shifted rearwardly to place the clutch members 25 and 31 in their neutral positions, after which the rod 66 is shifted rearwardly from its neutral position to move the gear 42 into mesh with the gear 45.

I claim:

1. In a transmission of the character de- I scribed, a driving shaft, a driven shaft arranged in spaced parallel relation to the driving shaft, two gears secured to the driving shaft, a high speed gear journaled on the driven shaft in mesh with one of said gears on the driving shaft, a low speed gear mounted on the driven shaft in mesh with the other of said gears on the driving shaft, shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting either said high speed gear or said low speed gear with the driven shaft, overrunning clutch means on the driven shaft having one element secured to said low speed gear, other shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting the other element ,of the overrunning clutch means with the driven shaft, manually operable control means for shifting the first and last named clutch means into their disengaged positions, and other manually operable control means for shifting the first named clutch means to release said high speed gear from the driven shaft without disengaging the second mentioned clutch means, whereby to transfer the drive immediately from said high speed gear to said low speed gear through the pick up afforded by the overrunning clutch means.

2. In a transmission of the character dcscribed,-a driving shaft, a driven shaft arranged in spaced parallel relation to the driving shaft, two gears secured to the driving shaft, a high speed gear journaled on the driven shaft in mesh with one of said gears on the driving shaft, 2, low speed gear mounted on the driven shaft in mesh with the other of said gears on the driving shaft, shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting either said high speed gear or said low speed gear with the driven shaft, overrunning clutch means on the drivenshaft having one element secured to said low speed gear, other shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting the other element of the overrunning clutch means with the driven shaft, manually operable control means for shifting the first and last named clutch means into their disengaged positions, and other manually operably control means for shifting the first named clutch means to release said high speed gear from the driven shaft without disengaging the second mentioned clutch means, whereby to transfer the drive immediately from said high speed gear to said low speed gear through the pick u afforded by the overrunning clutch means, said last named control means upon further manipulation actuating the first mentioned clutch means to connect said low speed gear directly with the driven shaft.

3. In a transmission of the character described, a driving shaft, a driven shaft arranged in spaced parallel relation to the driving shaft, two gears secured to the driving shaft, a high speed gear journaled on the driven shaft in mesh with one of said gears on the driving shaft, 9. low speed gear mounted on the driven shaft in mesh with the other of said gears on the driving shaft, shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting said high speed gear with the driven shaft, overrunning clutch means on the driven shaft having one element secured to said low speedgear, other shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting the other element of the overrunning clutch means with the driven shaft, a third gear non-rotatably but shiftably mounted on the driving shaft, 9. counter-shaft, a gear on the counter-shaft with which said third gear is adapted to beshifted into mesh, another gear on the counter-shaft connected with the first named gear on that shaft, and a gear non-rotatably connected with the driven shaft in mesh with the last named gear on the counter-shaft.

4. In a transmission of the character described, a driving shaft, a driven shaft arranged in spaced parallel relation to the driving shaft, two gears secured to the driving shaft, a high speed gear journaled on the driven shaft in mesh with one of said gears on the driving shaft, a low speed gear mounted on the driven shaft in mesh with the other of said gears on the driving shaft, shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting said high speed gear I with the'driven shaft, overrunning clutch means on the driven shaft having one element secured to said low speed gear, other shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting the other element of the overrunning clutch means with the driven shaft, a third gear non-rotatably but shiftably mounted on the driving shaft, a counter-shaft, a gear on the countershaft with which said third gear is adapted to be shifted into mesh, another gear on the countershaft connected with the first named gear on that shaft, and a gear non-rotatably connected with the driven shaft in mesh with the last named gear on the counter-shaft, said last named gear being mounted on the last named shiftable clutch means. i

5. In a transmission of the character described, a driving shaft, a driven shaft arranged in spaced parallel relation to the driving shaft, two'gears secured to the driving shaft, 2:. high speed gear journaled on the driven shaft in mesh with one of said gears on the driving shaft, a low speed gear mounted on the driven shaft in mesh with the other of said gears on the driving shaft, shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting said high speed gear with the driven shaft, overrunning clutch means means on the driven shaft for releasably connectlng the other element of the overrunning clutch means with the driven shaft, 9. third gear non-rotatably but shiftably mounted on the driving shaft, a counter-shaft, a gear on the counter-shaft with which said third gear is adapted to be shifted in one direction into mesh, another gear on the counter-shaft connected with the first named gear on that shaft, and a gear nonrotatably connected with the driven shaft in mesh with the last named gear on the countershaft, said third gear on the driving shaft being also adapted to be shifted in the opposite direction into direct mesh with the last named gear on the driven shaft.

6. In a transmission of the character described, a driving shaft, a driven shaft arranged in spaced parallel-relation to the driving shaft, two gears secured to the driving shaft, 9. high speed gear journaled on the driven shaft in mesh with one of said gears on the driving shaft, a low speed gear mounted on the driven shaft in mesh with the other of said gears on the driving shaft, shlftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting said high speed gear with the driven shaft, overrunning clutch means on the driven shaft having one element secured to said low speed gear, other shiftable clutch means on the driven shaft for releasably connecting the other element of the overrunning clutch means with the driven shaft, a third gear nonrotatably but shiftably mounted on the driving shaft, a countershaft, a gear on the countershaft with which said. third gear is adapted to be shifted in one direction into mesh, another gear on the counter-shaft connected withpthe first named gear on that shaft, and a gear nonrotatably connected with the driven shaft in mesh with the last named gear on the countershaft, said third gear on the driving shaft being also adapted to be shifted in the opposite direc tion into direct mesh with the last named gear on the driven shaft, and said last named gear on the driven shaft being mounted on the last named shiftable clutch means.

OSCAR H; BANKER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

TUNITED' STATES PATENTS 

